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| Hakodate Birding |
Raptors, Kingfishers and MosquitoesGot up very early in the fog and mist this morning to go to Onuma to check for Ruddy Kingfisher. I actually saw this bird almost 8 years ago in Thailand (I didn't see so many birds on that trip but for some reason I saw loads of different Kingfishers). We got to the recommended spot at 4.30am and found 3 photographers already there. They informed us it was already too late! We heard it a few times but couldn't locate it. Despite the mist and chill Onuma was infested with mosquitoes. Biting. Lots of common stuff singing in the forest. Olive Backed Pipit, Brown and Japanese Thrush (saw several of these), Red Flanked Bluetail, Narcissus and Blue & White Flycatchers, Japanese Green Pigeon, Oriental Cuckoo, Eastern Crowned and Japanese Bush Warbler. Not to mention the usual Great, Varied and Marsh Tit, Nuthatch plus Great Spotted and Japanese Pygmy Woodpeckers. The lake was shrouded in the aforementioned mist. A couple of Mandarin Duck and lots of Little Grebe were just about visible. A clattering of wings and a momentarily glimpsed brownish bird may have been a Hazel Grouse. Though it was probably just an Oriental Turtle Dove. It stayed cool and misty through the afternoon. Took a drive out to Menagawa and then back to Hakodate on a mountain road. Not much on the sea except for the resident species of Gulls and Cormorant. 6 Harlequin Duck (4 males and 2 females) were close inshore. Dunno if these summer around here or not. On the way back on the mountain road we got 2 raptors. The first was a displaying Oriental Honey Buzzard. The second was possibly bird of the year so far. A Mountain Hawk Eagle. Big grey thing with a short crest. An adult. Perched on top of a dead tree about 100 yards off the road. We stopped the car and confirmed the ID and I got the scope and camera out and of course the thing immediately flew off up into the mist. A bad day all round for pictures so here's one I took a couple of weeks ago in Utonai-ko. A Red Squirrel.  Not much around in Hakodate the last couple of days. A Grey Heron over my flat. Checked Yunokawa to see if any Grays Grasshopper Warbler were singing there (they weren't). Heard them 2 years ago a couple of times and rather stupidly I'm going back the second consecutive year expecting them to be there. They weren't there last year either. Japanese Wagtail, Common Cuckoo and Black Browed Reed Warbler were around at least. Rooney's final scan today. It's not too much of an exaggeration to say I'm as nervous about this scan as I was about my own knee op earlier this year. 18:22 - 7/6/2006 - post comment
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